This Monday was my Private Pilot Check-ride. This is the FAA exam that decides whether or not you are allowed to fly a plane. Alone and with passengers. The weather was not looking good. 30 knot winds, gusting to 40 knots were forecast. Ideal condition for a check ride would be calm weather with no winds. 10 knots would be okay. Anything more than that would make the exam progressively more difficult as in addition to the nerves of displaying your skills, you would be fighting the weather.
My check ride was to begin at 7 a.m. This was so that we had a chance of completing the exams before the wind made the conditions beyond the specified limits of flying for the aircraft. The Cessna Sky-hawk I was flying was demonstrated for a 20 knot crosswind. And this demonstration is by a test pilot.
I left my hotel at 5, so I could reach Hurricane airport, the home base of the airplane I was using. I got there by around 6 after grabbing a much needed hot cup of coffee from McDonalds, one of the few places open that early. At Hurricane Airport, Dave the primary aircraft owner had already pulled the plane from the hangar and filled it up. He gave me the aircraft logbooks that form part of the check-ride and explained all the maintenance and checks that were done and check-ride the currency of each of the log books.
Dave, the aircraft primary owner
A little while later, Eric arrived. I pre-flighted the plane and we were all set to fly to St. George where I was scheduled to give my check-ride. It was short 20 minutes flight and I had my first test landing with Eric watching me closely. I had a good landing and I felt relieved. We parked the aircraft at the FBO terminal building and walked in with 2 minutes to spare.
Dan the FAA appointed examiner was already there. I was introduced to him, and he asked me to set up my material in the conference room. As part of the exam, the examiner had given me a cross country to plan. I laid out the plans, charts, notes and other material I had prepared. I also kept my documents, logbooks as well as the aircraft documents. The examiner started on time and quickly went through all the documents. He was quick but thorough. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order, we completed the paperwork for the exam. All of it was online, including me signing the required understanding of the exam and the required waivers.
At 7.45 my examiner was ready to start. He briefed me about the exam, how he would conduct it, the ground rules, made sure I understood and was comfortable and we were ready to start. As you can imagine I was super nervous. This was my first orals after my Masters Orals in Shipping which was 2 decades ago. As the questions started flowing, I became more and more comfortable and was able to answer most with reasonable ease. Since it was scenario based, and involved understanding rather than knowing exact rule nos., it went well. At the end of a little over an hour, the examiner let me know that he was ready to move on to the main event, the actual check ride. I was relieved. One step closer.
After a short water break, we went out to the aircraft. I went through the pre-flight and we were ready to taxi. At every stage of the process, the examiner was quizzing me. He was gauging whether I knew and understood what I was doing, as well as other areas I was supposed to know. He addressed all of these in a nice, gentle manner that made you comfortable, especially if you knew the stuff. All of my reading and practice was coming to good use. And fortunately I did not hit a blank spot.
Once we started taxing, he went through each and every one of the requirements which were part of the PTS. (Private Pilot Test Standards). He mixed them around in scenarios, so that they had a natural flow. I continued to be nervous, but was able to carry out all of the tasks. I had no idea of how long we were flying when he asked me to fly back to St George. There were over 20 tasks we had completed. And I thought I was done. But that was not to be. I got a failed electrical scenario, so a no flap landing to do.
Back to being nervous. Although I hadn't practiced this specific landing, especially considering I was given an area within which to land, my training itself gave me sufficient inputs to be able to plan for it. The wind had started picking up and there was a slight cross wind from the right,
I came in for the landing a little high, and had to use the forward slip to be on the right glide slope. As we passed the numbers, I did the round out and landed within the specified landing range. We taxied back to the FBO terminal building, went through the final checklists, shut down the plane, and got off.
As I was tying down the plane, the examiner said, "Congratulations, you've passed". It suddenly hit me. I had finally fulfilled a life long dream. I was about to get my Pilots certificate. We went back to the terminal building where the examiner debriefed me. And then for the main event. He printed the certificate. I was still nervous and it took me a few minutes to find the area where I had to sign.
Eric, my flight instructor and the person responsible for my PPL
We flew back to Hurricane, and I flew my first flight as PIC with Eric, my flight instructor, now my passenger.
My check ride was to begin at 7 a.m. This was so that we had a chance of completing the exams before the wind made the conditions beyond the specified limits of flying for the aircraft. The Cessna Sky-hawk I was flying was demonstrated for a 20 knot crosswind. And this demonstration is by a test pilot.
I left my hotel at 5, so I could reach Hurricane airport, the home base of the airplane I was using. I got there by around 6 after grabbing a much needed hot cup of coffee from McDonalds, one of the few places open that early. At Hurricane Airport, Dave the primary aircraft owner had already pulled the plane from the hangar and filled it up. He gave me the aircraft logbooks that form part of the check-ride and explained all the maintenance and checks that were done and check-ride the currency of each of the log books.
A little while later, Eric arrived. I pre-flighted the plane and we were all set to fly to St. George where I was scheduled to give my check-ride. It was short 20 minutes flight and I had my first test landing with Eric watching me closely. I had a good landing and I felt relieved. We parked the aircraft at the FBO terminal building and walked in with 2 minutes to spare.
Dan the FAA appointed examiner was already there. I was introduced to him, and he asked me to set up my material in the conference room. As part of the exam, the examiner had given me a cross country to plan. I laid out the plans, charts, notes and other material I had prepared. I also kept my documents, logbooks as well as the aircraft documents. The examiner started on time and quickly went through all the documents. He was quick but thorough. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order, we completed the paperwork for the exam. All of it was online, including me signing the required understanding of the exam and the required waivers.
At 7.45 my examiner was ready to start. He briefed me about the exam, how he would conduct it, the ground rules, made sure I understood and was comfortable and we were ready to start. As you can imagine I was super nervous. This was my first orals after my Masters Orals in Shipping which was 2 decades ago. As the questions started flowing, I became more and more comfortable and was able to answer most with reasonable ease. Since it was scenario based, and involved understanding rather than knowing exact rule nos., it went well. At the end of a little over an hour, the examiner let me know that he was ready to move on to the main event, the actual check ride. I was relieved. One step closer.
After a short water break, we went out to the aircraft. I went through the pre-flight and we were ready to taxi. At every stage of the process, the examiner was quizzing me. He was gauging whether I knew and understood what I was doing, as well as other areas I was supposed to know. He addressed all of these in a nice, gentle manner that made you comfortable, especially if you knew the stuff. All of my reading and practice was coming to good use. And fortunately I did not hit a blank spot.
Once we started taxing, he went through each and every one of the requirements which were part of the PTS. (Private Pilot Test Standards). He mixed them around in scenarios, so that they had a natural flow. I continued to be nervous, but was able to carry out all of the tasks. I had no idea of how long we were flying when he asked me to fly back to St George. There were over 20 tasks we had completed. And I thought I was done. But that was not to be. I got a failed electrical scenario, so a no flap landing to do.
Back to being nervous. Although I hadn't practiced this specific landing, especially considering I was given an area within which to land, my training itself gave me sufficient inputs to be able to plan for it. The wind had started picking up and there was a slight cross wind from the right,
I came in for the landing a little high, and had to use the forward slip to be on the right glide slope. As we passed the numbers, I did the round out and landed within the specified landing range. We taxied back to the FBO terminal building, went through the final checklists, shut down the plane, and got off.
As I was tying down the plane, the examiner said, "Congratulations, you've passed". It suddenly hit me. I had finally fulfilled a life long dream. I was about to get my Pilots certificate. We went back to the terminal building where the examiner debriefed me. And then for the main event. He printed the certificate. I was still nervous and it took me a few minutes to find the area where I had to sign.
We flew back to Hurricane, and I flew my first flight as PIC with Eric, my flight instructor, now my passenger.
Congratulations!
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